Computers and electronic documents have become an increasingly indispensable part of modern life. As a result, electronic documents have rapidly gained acceptance as a convenient replacement for conventional paper documents. The growing popularity of electronic documents has resulted in the adaptation of conventional paper-based document processing workflows and security protocols to the electronic realm. One such adaptation has been the increased use and acceptance of electronic signatures on agreements, contracts, and other documents. For example, when negotiating parties agree on a course of action, state of affairs, or other subject matter, the resulting agreement is usually reduced to writing and executed by the parties as a way to memorialize its terms. Since this “reduction to writing” now often takes the form of an electronic document stored on a computer readable medium, electronic signatures have become commonplace and have indeed gained widespread legal recognition. See, for example, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National (ESIGN) Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. § 96. The wide variety of different formats and legal requirements relating to electronic signatures has resulted in a correspondingly wide variety of workflows and security protocols that facilitate the application of an authenticated electronic signature to a document. In general, electronic signature workflows are influenced by authentication, persistency, and other security concerns which are unique to the electronic realm.